Teaching is Not a Science

New York State has always left curriculum to the school district, the State develops standards and high school graduation requirements. For example districts choose reading programs and/or write their own. The choice of curriculum has become a controversial topic across the nation.

David Steiner, at John Hopkins School of Education and the former NYS Commissioner of Education, in a new book, is sharply critical of our educational system.    .

First, he says, education has lost its way. There has been a fundamental turning away from the academic core and a pursuit of proxies such as metacognitive skills for which there is weak research support. Second, what we offer is too often "mind-numbingly dull… students are just deeply bored."

Third, the education system is fragmented. "If you wanted to design an education system for failure, what we've got is pretty close," he says

Last, he says, we've fooled ourselves into thinking that things are improving. GPAs and graduation rates have soared, but real academic results have not. "Dead flat," Steiner says. "Instead, we now label as a success what we used to call failure."

To highlight Steiner’s views we see the Governor of New York State, the Mayor of New York City and the Chancellor of New York City Schools requiring that all schools adopt one of three phonics-based reading programs claiming the programs are “scientific,” as proven by the Science of Reading movement.  The incomparable Diane Ravitch demurred, writing “While Phonics is Important, There is no Science of Reading (read here). The twenty year old report referenced by the Chancellor and the Governor does not “crown” the teaching of phonics, in fact it has serious questions.

The study finds, on average, that after several years of funding the Reading First program, it has a consistent positive effect on reading instruction yet no statistically significant impact on student reading comprehension. Findings based on exploratory analyses do not provide consistent or systematic insight into the pattern of observed impacts.

I wrote a lengthy blog recounting the fifty plus year old battle over the “correct” way to teach reading, which we call “The Reading Wars.”

Children are not the same, and teaching is far more art than science. What “works” one day bombs the next day, or, the next period; and, although neither the governor nor the mayor mentioned, coming to school every day does impact learning.

You cannot stand on the mountaintop and declare everything teachers have been doing for a career is wrong.

The leadership loses credibility if they ignore the very folks tasked with interacting with students on a daily basis: teachers.  Has anyone asked teachers “Why Johnnie Can’t Read?”

In fact “personal and organization change” is a field unto itself. 

Walter Sikes and Jack Linquist, psychologists, in a brief article summarize, “Some Principles of Personal l and Organizational Change,”

You must know what something is before you try to change it. Diagnosis is the key to effecting planned change. A change agent must have a sound, internalized understanding not only of the “facts” but also the feelings important to the change process. Thus, data collection and feedback are essential to initializing personal or organizational change. A thorough understanding of the particular dynamics of the system that is to be changed will allow one to tailor the innovation, ‘plan for adaption not adoption.’

Focus groups, forums, involving classroom teachers may have gained support from the folks in the trenches.

Because all human change takes place within systems you cannot change just one isolated element. Everything in a system is ultimately connected, so a change in one part effects the total impact of the proposed change on all parts of the system so as to reduce the chances of unwarranted and unpredicted side effects. Whether the system constitutes a large complex organization or an individual, person(s) involved probably likes stability and predictability.

Denigrating teachers to mechanics changing parts is insulting.

People resist punishment. Change generally generates discomfort, requiring the use of extra energy to adapt to a new situation. People tend to consider alterations in a system a form of punishment even if changes that one consider desirable may entail some discomfort.

Announcing to the educational world that principals and teachers have been responsible for their children’s failure is not a positive strategy.

People are reluctant to undergo temporary discomfort for long term gain. Learning a new skill, whether technical or behavioral, at the least causes one to undergo the pain of feeling incompetent for a time. We feel more comfortable using familiar behaviors and already mastered skills, so we prefer to polish, refine and rely on them rather than develop new probably better skills.

Don't worry, you'll get used to the new program, at least until .we change it again.

I was at a virtual conference and Pedro Noguera, a brilliant educator and currently the Dean of Education at the USC School of Education was the keynote speaker and author of one of my favorite books, The Trouble with Black Boys and other reflections on Race, Equity and the Future of Public Education, I asked, “Is there any hope?”  He smiled, and urged all of us to find allies, build collaborations, put aside our differences and fight together, it was uplifting.

Ending Mayoral Control will be both symbolic and meaningful.

I’m hopeful.